It's Just Money

Saw this ad for a popular online broker recently

I was cruising around Yahoo Finance today when I stumble upon this ad...

So, here's my gripe.  What exactly are they advertising?  Here are my best guesses.

Post Your CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge Final Result

Ouch!  The drop in gold prices this week continues to slap my portfolio around.  Oh well, it's play money.  Here are my final results:

Value: $1,036,725.62
Rank: 592,547
Percentile: 37%

How'd you do?

Is it time to Sell in May and Go Away?

A year ago at this time, the market looked fantastic.  May 10, 2006, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 11,642.45, just a stone's throw breaking the all time high of 11,722.98 set in January of 2000.  A bear market followed that January 2000 high, taking the index to a low of 7,286.27 in October 2002.  A mere six an a half years later, we were finally approaching even.

Then one of Wall Street's oldest adages kicked in.  Wall Street types love thier little sayings.  "Don't try to catch a falling knife," "nobody rings a bell at the top," and, of course, "Sell in May and go away."  I examined this last one in a post that I wrote last year.  Go to that post for details and disclosures, but ultimately, the result was that this period from May through St. Leger's Day (the rest of the saying goes, "and don't come back until St. Leger's Day") is a significantly lackluster one.

The average return for the May through St. Leger's Day period (a little over four months) from 1969 to 2006 was 1.03% with 26 out of 38 periods returning positive results.  Ultimately, like all attempts to time the market, the same risk remains.  You may miss out on fantastic returns.  In the long run, your portfolio could suffer significantly for it.

Speculative Charitable Giving, how the tax laws create an incentive for you to gamble with your charitable contributions

If you are a gambler, you know that there are many ways to tip your dealer.  You can throw him a chip after being dealt Blackjack.  If you cash out a winner, you can throw 5-10% back to the dealer as you leave your seat.  My favorite way is to "play the tip."  Basically, you place the tip (which is not subject to table minimums) just above your own bet.  If you win the hand, the dealer's tip is also paid its winnings and your tip just doubled, or more.

As an example, let's say that I am playing at a $10 table.  I can bet $10 for myself, and $2 for the dealer.  The dealer will thank me for the bet and deal the cards.  If I lose my hand, my $10 bet plus the dealer's $2 tip is lost to the house.  If I win with a non-blackjack hand, I win $10 for my bet, the dealer's tip wins $2, and the total $4 goes to the tip jar.  I win, dealer wins, everybody is happy.  We would both be even more happy if I am dealt a blackjack, which pays 1.5 to 1.  Instead of $10, I win $15.  Instead of $2, the dealer wins $3 for a total tip of $5.

Okay, you get it?  So, what does this have to do with charitable giving and tax laws?  Plenty.

Post Your CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge Week 8 Status

Hi folks, I hope you had a good week.  Don't forget to post your results for this week.  I'm out of town this weekend, but I'll try to get the results up around Tuesday or Wednesday.

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge Week 7 Results

Sorry once again for the delay in posting results.  This has been a busy week.  Bobby retains the top spot, with Todd closing in on his heels.  The results:

1. Bobby: Value $1,162,255.26, Rank 59,789, Percentile 6%
2. Todd:  Value $1,153,884.93, Rank 69,413, Percentile 7%
3. Joey:  Value $1,085,516.30, Rank 163,317, Percentile 15%
4. LAMoneyGuy:  Value $1,062,475.12, Rank 225,986, Percentile 21%
5. thatedguy:  Value $1,060,319.00, Rank 233,154, Percentile 21%
6. Robert Cote:  Value $1,059,169.75, Rank 237,712, Percentile 22%

Robert mentioned that he was all in on Amgen as of last Monday.  I'm hoping he switched one letter from AMGN to AMZN by Wednesday.

Post your CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge Week 7 Results

I slipped a little this week. My oversized position in a gold mining stock hurt my portfolio. Here are my results:

Value: $1,062,475.12
Rank: 225,986
Percentile: 21%

Please post your results in the comments below.

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge Week 6 Results

I'll tell you what's amazing.  After six weeks, we're not only all in the positive, but on average we have made some serious paper profits.  The mean result among our participants as of this week is a portfolio value of $1,082,596.64.  This means that if any of us actually had $1,000,000 to invest six weeks ago, and collectively constructed a portfolio, we would have made over eighty thousand dollars!  Not a bad result for six weeks.  I guess it really does take money to make money.

Well, here are the full results:

1. Bobby:  Value $1,142,176.34, Rank 58,923, 7%
2. Living Almost Large: Value $1,125,114.00, Rank 73,906, 9%
3. Todd:  Value $1,110,361.99, Rank 89.459, 11%
4. Save Money:  Value $1,098,332.29, Rank 104,853, 13%
5. Charles:  Value $1,078,001.29, Rank 136,927, 16%
6. LAMoneyGuy: Value $1,068,996.12, Rank 154,400, 18%
7. Joey: Value $1, 062,026.40, Rank 169,054.20
8. Thatedguy: Value $1,052,662.50, Rank 192,514, 23%
9. Robert Cote: Value $1,005,698.80, Rank 386,360, 45%

Post your CNBC Million Dollar Challenge Week 6 Results

How did you do this week?  Thanks to some nice gains in a telecom stock and a gold stock, I had a good overall week.  My results:

Value: $1,068,996.12
Rank: 154,400
Percent: 18%

Not bad.  And I have not had a single bonus buck.  I'm not interested in that.  I want to see what I can grow my portfolio to based on an assumed million dollar starting amount.

Please post your results in the comments below.

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge Week 5 Results

Sorry for the delay, and thank you to all who participated.  Well, this is the end of week five, which marks the halfway point in the contest.  How are you doing?  Are you in contention for the real money?  Here are the participants this week:

1. MoneyFwd: Value $1,199,441.27, Rank 17,779, 4%
2. LivingAlmostLarge:  Value $1,121,871.77, Rank 50,465 9%
3. Bobby: Value $1,120,418.94, Rank 51,635 10%
4. Todd:  Value $1,107,169.65, Rank 65,945 12%
5. Save Money: Value $1,104,051.81, Rank 66,048 12%
6. Charles: Value $1,074,381.30, Rank 106,136 20%
7. LAMoneyGuy: Value $1,057,568.82, Rank 138,637 25%
8. Joey:  Value $1,057,433.80, Rank 137,896 25%
9. Thatedguy: Value $1,050,550.50, Rank 154,218 28%
10. Robert Cote: Value $1,031,819.00, Rank 204,639 36%